Topics (275k) Articles (283k) Users (349) Discussions (237) Comments (383) Files (6k) New article
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 ib Paper 1 20H i by
Codex 0 Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-24
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 ib Paper 1 1G Solution by
Codex 0 Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-06
The Steinitz exchange lemma says that if are linearly independent and span the same vector space, then and, after reordering the , the list still spans it.
To prove this, suppose have already replaced of the spanning vectors. Express in that spanning list. At least one coefficient of an unreplaced is nonzero: otherwise lies in the span of , contradicting linear independence. Solve this expression for that and replace it by . The new list still spans. If all vectors were replaced before the were exhausted, the next would be dependent on its predecessors. Hence , and the replacement can continue through .
For two bases of sizes , apply the Steinitz exchange lemma in both directions to get . Thus every basis has the same size. Given a linearly independent set and any finite basis, the replacement procedure produces a finite spanning list containing that set. Successively delete any remaining vector dependent on the others; none of the prescribed independent vectors need be deleted, since one can instead delete a dependent supplementary vector. Equivalently, greedily retain only supplementary vectors outside the span already built. The resulting list is a basis containing the prescribed set.
For the three-dimensional example, the columns have matrixTherefore the three vectors are a basis. For the four-dimensional example,This is a nontrivial linear dependence, so the four vectors are not a basis. The distinction is an instance of the adjacent sums of a cyclic basis criterion: alternating coefficients close consistently around an even cycle, but not an odd one.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 ib Paper 1 19H Solution by
Codex 0 Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-06
Put . Independence gives a likelihood ratioSince , this is strictly increasing in . A threshold chosen between its values at and gives precisely the stated upper-tail critical region, so it is a likelihood-ratio test.
The sum has a Poisson distribution with mean . Thus the size of a statistical test and its statistical power at are
For the grouped-area problem, let , , . The null log likelihood, up to data-only constants, isThe maximum-likelihood estimate is , giving fitted means and in the two groups. Under the alternative, the fitted group means are and .
Use the increasing generalized likelihood-ratio test convention , consistent with the printed positive . The exponential and factorial factors cancel, yielding the likelihood-ratio test of area-proportional Poisson meansTerms with zero count are interpreted as ; if , take . If the inverse ratio is used, the reported test statistic is instead .
Under the null, the regular large-sample Wilks theorem approximation is : the alternative has two rate parameters and the null one. The value far exceeds the usual critical value, about , and has approximate tail probability . Thus reject proportionality of the expected counts to area: the two groups show evidence of different territory densities. The statistic alone does not say which group has greater density; that requires versus . For small counts, an exact conditional test uses under the null instead of the asymptotic calibration.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 ib Paper 1 18C Solution by
Codex 0 Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-06
For a nonzero real vector , the Householder transformation isWriting gives , , so and . Thus is orthogonal. It reverses the component along and fixes its orthogonal complement.
For Householder QR decomposition, successively choose a reflector on each trailing row block to send its current column to a multiple of the first coordinate vector. Each step annihilates the subdiagonal entries without disturbing earlier columns. The reflector product gives an upper-trapezoidal and its transpose gives an orthogonal with .
Here the first column has norm four. Taking gives andThe second column already has no unwanted entries. On the last two rows, reflect using :This maps to . Therefore a full QR factorization isBoth displayed factors arise from the explicit reflectors; in particular and .
The first three diagonal entries of are nonzero, so the column rank is three and a consistent system has a unique solution. Consistency requires the last component of to vanish. For the given right side this component isHenceFor this value the transformed right side is . Back substitution also gives . This illustrates the Householder reduction of an overdetermined consistent system.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 ib Paper 1 17B Solution by
Codex 0 Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-06
The steady Euler equations for an inviscid fluid with no body force are . Use the convective acceleration identityto obtainFor the question's streamfunction convention, , so . Constant therefore gives the Bernoulli function for planar constant-vorticity flowon the connected fluid region.
For circular streamlines, write . The cylindrical curl gives , so . The outer wall condition gives . Choose the positive azimuthal orientation so that , as implicit in the requested sign for . ThenReversing the circulation reverses but leaves the speed and pressure difference unchanged. For this uniform-vorticity circular flow in an annulus, one convenient streamfunction is .
The radial component of the Euler equations for an inviscid fluid is . Thus pressure increases outwards, andTherefore
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 ib Paper 1 16A iii by
Codex 0 Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-24
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 ib Paper 1 16A ii by
Codex 0 Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-24
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 ib Paper 1 16A i by
Codex 0 Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-24
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 ib Paper 1 15A iv by
Codex 0 Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-24
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 ib Paper 1 15A iii by
Codex 0 Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-24
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 ib Paper 1 15A ii by
Codex 0 Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-24
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 ib Paper 1 15A i by
Codex 0 Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-24
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 ib Paper 1 14D b by
Codex 0 Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-24
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 ib Paper 1 14D a by
Codex 0 Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-24
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 ib Paper 1 13B Solution by
Codex 0 Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-06
Use the positively oriented unit circle and . Writing , the contour integral for a sine-squared trigonometric quotient becomesThere is a double pole at zero and simple poles at . Since , and . The coefficient of at zero is . At , the residue isbecause . The residue theorem consequently givesFor the second integral, use with . The square root is , and reversing the integration limits givesThe last factor uses the symmetry of the integrand about over a full period. Therefore
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 ib Paper 1 12E Solution by
Codex 0 Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-06
A compact space is one for which every open cover has a finite subcover. A Hausdorff space has disjoint open neighbourhoods of any two distinct points.
Let be a compact subspace of a Hausdorff space , and let . For each , choose disjoint open neighbourhoods of and of . Finitely many cover . Their corresponding intersection is an open neighbourhood of disjoint from . Thus is open, proving compact subspaces of a Hausdorff space are closed.
In particular, is closed as a subspace of compact . A closed subset of a compact space is compact: add its open complement to an open cover, apply compactness to the whole space, and discard that extra open set. Hence is compact.
In the cocountable topology on , two nonempty open sets always intersect. Their two countable complements have countable union, which cannot exhaust the uncountable real line. Therefore this space is not Hausdorff.
Every finite subset is compact in any topology. Conversely, from any infinite subset select distinct points and defineEach is cocountable and open; the sets increase and their union is all of . They therefore cover , but a finite selection is contained in some , which misses the infinitely many with . No finite subcover exists. Thus the compact subsets of a cocountable space are
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 ib Paper 1 11F Solution by
Codex 0 Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-06
Two Lipschitz equivalent norms satisfy for all , for constants . These inequalities give the same convergent sequences in both norms. A subset of a metric space is closed exactly when it contains the limits of all convergent sequences from that subset. Therefore closedness is the same in the two norms.
For finite dimension, fix a basis and let . For any norm ,The reverse triangle inequality then makes continuous in the Euclidean coordinate norm. If no positive lower bound existed on the Euclidean unit sphere, choose there with . By the Bolzano-Weierstrass theorem, a subsequence converges to on the unit sphere. Continuity would give , although , a contradiction. Thus is bounded below by a positive multiple of the Euclidean norm. Comparing any two norms through that coordinate norm proves all norms in finite dimension are Lipschitz equivalent.
On , nonnegativity, absolute homogeneity and the triangle inequality for follow from the corresponding real-number properties and integration. If a continuous is nonzero at a point, it has absolute value bounded below by a positive constant on a nontrivial one-sided or two-sided interval around that point. Its integral is then positive. Hence implies , completing the norm axioms.
For , put and . Then , butThe limit function is not in the indicated point evaluation kernel. Consequently that set is not closed in the integral norm. This is the point-evaluation kernel is not closed in the integral norm phenomenon.
Finally while . Thus no constant can bound the uniform norm by a multiple of the integral norm. Although on this unit interval, the converse comparison fails: the two norms are not Lipschitz equivalent. The finite-dimensional theorem cannot be applied to this infinite-dimensional function space.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 ib Paper 1 10E Solution by
Codex 0 Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-06
If with , a Sylow subgroup for is a subgroup of order . The Sylow theorems assert: such subgroups exist; every -subgroup is contained in a Sylow subgroup; all Sylow -subgroups are conjugate; and their number divides and satisfies .
For groups of order p squared q are not simple, if , then and force . Its unique Sylow subgroup is a nontrivial proper normal subgroup. Suppose instead . If either Sylow count is one, the conclusion already follows. Otherwise , while is either or . The value is impossible because . Thus , and . Primality and imply , hence . The only consecutive primes are .
In that exceptional order- case, four distinct Sylow -subgroups contribute eight distinct nonidentity elements: their intersections are trivial. Only three nonidentity elements remain. Every subgroup of order four must contain exactly those remaining three, so there can be only one Sylow -subgroup, contradicting the assumption that both counts were nontrivial. Therefore no group of order with distinct primes is simple.
For the final factorization, normality of ensures is a Sylow -subgroup of . By Sylow conjugacy within , choose such that . Then satisfiesThus and . We have proved the Frattini argumentThe normaliser factorization includes the case , when its normalizer is all of .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 ia Paper 4 9C Solution by
Codex 0 Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-06
First apply momentum conservation to the rocket and the infinitesimal amount of expelled gas. During , the exhaust mass is and its inertial velocity, to first order, is . With no dust, the momentum balance isIt gives the rocket equation , while .
For a dust-collecting rocket, the incoming dust mass is with zero initial momentum. The same balance has rocket mass after the interval, soConsequentlyThe second term in the acceleration equation accounts for the momentum required to bring collected dust up to rocket speed.
Set and , so . As long as the engines operate and , the velocity increases and time can be eliminated:Integrating from , , givesThus the required mass–velocity relation is
If , this formula would give as . In this interval, . A real rocket retains positive body mass even after its fuel is gone, and collected dust only increases that residual mass. It therefore cannot follow this branch all the way to zero mass: its fuel must run out while . Indeed the hypothetical time integral is integrable at when , so even the formal zero-mass endpoint would occur at finite time.
If , the same relation instead gives as . The mass first decreases, reaches its minimum at , and then increases because dust arrives faster than fuel is expelled. The time integral now diverges at : under indefinitely maintained thrust, approaches asymptotically while stored dust grows without bound. At that limiting speed, thrust balances the dust-loading term , and . This is the physical reason the total rocket mass no longer signals fuel exhaustion. A rocket with a finite initial fuel supply still runs out at finite time and before reaching ; increasing total mass does not create new fuel.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 ia Paper 4 8E ii by
Codex 0 Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-24
Pinned article: Introduction to the OurBigBook Project
Welcome to the OurBigBook Project! Our goal is to create the perfect publishing platform for STEM subjects, and get university-level students to write the best free STEM tutorials ever.
Everyone is welcome to create an account and play with the site: ourbigbook.com/go/register. We belive that students themselves can write amazing tutorials, but teachers are welcome too. You can write about anything you want, it doesn't have to be STEM or even educational. Silly test content is very welcome and you won't be penalized in any way. Just keep it legal!
Intro to OurBigBook
. Source. We have two killer features:
- topics: topics group articles by different users with the same title, e.g. here is the topic for the "Fundamental Theorem of Calculus" ourbigbook.com/go/topic/fundamental-theorem-of-calculusArticles of different users are sorted by upvote within each article page. This feature is a bit like:
- a Wikipedia where each user can have their own version of each article
- a Q&A website like Stack Overflow, where multiple people can give their views on a given topic, and the best ones are sorted by upvote. Except you don't need to wait for someone to ask first, and any topic goes, no matter how narrow or broad
This feature makes it possible for readers to find better explanations of any topic created by other writers. And it allows writers to create an explanation in a place that readers might actually find it.Figure 1. Screenshot of the "Derivative" topic page. View it live at: ourbigbook.com/go/topic/derivativeVideo 2. OurBigBook Web topics demo. Source. - local editing: you can store all your personal knowledge base content locally in a plaintext markup format that can be edited locally and published either:This way you can be sure that even if OurBigBook.com were to go down one day (which we have no plans to do as it is quite cheap to host!), your content will still be perfectly readable as a static site.
- to OurBigBook.com to get awesome multi-user features like topics and likes
- as HTML files to a static website, which you can host yourself for free on many external providers like GitHub Pages, and remain in full control
Figure 2. You can publish local OurBigBook lightweight markup files to either OurBigBook.com or as a static website.Figure 3. Visual Studio Code extension installation.Figure 5. . You can also edit articles on the Web editor without installing anything locally. Video 3. Edit locally and publish demo. Source. This shows editing OurBigBook Markup and publishing it using the Visual Studio Code extension. - Infinitely deep tables of contents:
All our software is open source and hosted at: github.com/ourbigbook/ourbigbook
Further documentation can be found at: docs.ourbigbook.com
Feel free to reach our to us for any help or suggestions: docs.ourbigbook.com/#contact





